Dunwich Horror - Best of Suspense - Radio's Outstanding Theater of Thrills

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3 years ago
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"The Dunwich Horror". A story about a monster loose in the countryside. The dogs of old Dunwich village have been barking for three days and three nights and the horror to which their barking portents, this unbelievable horror must be made believable to you and must occur tonight the eve of old Hallows for tomorrow it will be too late… The story begins with the birth of Wilbur Whitley. It was the night of February the 2nd 1921 toward dawn when Lavinia Whitley a deformed albino woman about 35 years old gave birth to her dark gawkish looking son in the crumbling Whitley farmhouse north east of the village. No one attended her; no one was with her except her aged half insane father who was known as Wizard Whitley so who knows what incantations Wilbur came in to this world to.
One of the premier drama programs of the Golden Age of Radio, was subtitled "radio's outstanding theater of thrills" and focused on suspense thriller-type scripts, usually featuring leading Hollywood actors of the era. Approximately 945 episodes were broadcast during its long run, and more than 900 still exist.

Suspense went through several major phases, characterized by different hosts, sponsors, and director/producers. Formula plot devices were followed for all but a handful of episodes: the protagonist was usually a normal person suddenly dropped into a threatening or bizarre situation; solutions were "withheld until the last possible second"; and evildoers were usually punished in the end.

In its early years, the program made only occasional forays into science fiction and fantasy. Notable exceptions include adaptations of Curt Siodmak's Donovan's Brain and H. P. Lovecraft's "The Dunwich Horror", but by the late 1950s, such material was regularly featured. (Wikipedia)

originally Broadcast 11/1/1945

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